Twins @ Dodgers July 25, 2017: Berríos vs. Maeda

Coming off of a very nice win last night, the Dodgers (69-31) will try for a series victory tonight against the Twins (48-47). Kenta Maeda (4.23 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 4.48 DRA) is on the mound making his 16th start of the season, and second start post-All Star break.

Twins

Dodgers

7:10 PM PT

Los Angeles

2B

Dozier

LF

Taylor

CF

Granite

SS

Seager

1B

Mauer

3B

Turner

3B

Sanó

1B

Bellinger

LF

Rosario

C

Grandal

SS

Escobar

CF

Pederson

RF

Kepler

2B

Utley

C

Castro

RF

Puig

P

Berríos (R)

P

Maeda (R)

Maeda began July with his worst start of the season, in which he allowed 5 runs in 3.2 IP. He’s somewhat rebounded since then, posting two consecutive starts of five innings and one earned run. Maeda has gone deeper than five innings just three times this year.

José Berríos(3.50 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 3.74 DRA) goes up against the Dodgers for the first time in his career. Berríos, a 23-year-old righty, was a Twins first-round draft pick in 2012. He made his debut last season, and bounced back and forth between MLB and Triple-A, posting an 8.02 ERA across 14 starts for Minnesota. He’s been much better this year, as his strikeouts are up, his walks are down, and he’s inducing groundballs at a heightened clip.

Berríos has a four-pitch mix headlined by a fastball that averages 94 MPH. His secondary pitch is a curveball, and he’s thrown his sinker as fast as 97 MPH this year. He also has a changeup that induces a 14% whiff rate, per Brooks Baseball.

About Sarah Wexler

Sarah Wexler is a native Angeleno and longtime Dodger fan. She began blogging about baseball in 2012 on her Tumblr, New Grass On The Field, where she covered an array of topics but especially enjoyed exploring baseball history. She is now a reporter/producer for MLB.com. She earned her master's degree in Sports Management from Cal State Long Beach. She graduated from New York University in 2014 with a bachelor's in History and a minor in American Studies. She's an avid Springsteen fan, which is a big boost to her baseball writer cred.